The following blogpost article from Harvard outlines important themes we’ve discussed thus far this semester about how the legal system can facilitate and encourage innovative entrepreneurship. The author’s research grapples with Mayer-Schoenberger’s proposed questions of risk, predictability, and legal certainty.

https://blogs.harvard.edu/ugasser/2008/02/11/how-can-law-foster-innovative-entrepreneurship-a-blueprint-for-a-re/

The following article from the World Intellectual Property Organization ties in nicely with Joe Barich’s presentation. It parses the dividing lines between technology, inventions, and patents. Additionally, its emphasis on the commercialization of ideas and emerging technological developments is apropos in light of our class’s focus on disruptive technology.

http://www.wipo.int/sme/en/documents/ip_innovation_development_fulltext.html

By emphasizing the relationship between incentives and economic growth, this article adds great insight into the effects that government and society have on patents and innovation. The author, Dr. Lybecker, makes an important connection between the strength of intellectual property rights and societies’ research and development efforts. Dr. Lybecker also traces the broad contours of U.S. jurisprudence to identify the judiciary’s integral role in the patent system.

http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2014/07/21/promote-innovation-the-economics-of-incentives/id=50428/

This article is a nice foundational piece that serves as an introduction to intellectual property. It also discusses the repercussions of patents that are too restrictive or too expansive.

http://www.kauffman.org/what-we-do/resources/entrepreneurship-policy-digest/how-intellectual-property-can-help-or-hinder-innovation

http://www.inc.com/larry-kim/7-deadly-fears-entrepreneurs-must-overcome-to-be-successful.html

This article outlines common fears among entrepreneurs – many of which we have talked about in class. I found the “fear of letting others down” to be one of the more interesting ones on the list. As the author stated, “others” often means not just your own friends/family, but also employees. There is a lot of pressure that comes with employing someone as the employer is not only responsible for the employee, but often for the employee’s family as well. As much as it’s easy to get past many of the mental hurdles that entrepreneurship brings, it’s often a bit harder to put other’s finances/future on the hook rather than just your own.

This is an interesting article about a law student who is also en entrepreneur. He is pursuing a law degree not so that he can practice law, rather, because he believes it will help him as an entrepreneur. Soon after arriving on campus, he realized that there isn’t a grocery store within walking distance of his campus and convenience store prices are too high. He rented space in a nearby location, stocked up on the most popular items that students often buy, and opened up shop. His school, Marquette University, gave him a check for $10,000 from Marquette’s Enterprise Seed Fund, a pool of seed money administered by Marquette and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. Marquette is just one of several institutions included in I-CORPS sites around the country use federal funding to accelerate the commercialization of research ideas developed on campus. The article highlights the fact that schools are beginning to realize how important this sort of entrepreneurial support is, and they are creating programs to help their students succeed in developing real-life businesses outside of the classroom.

https://www.biztimes.com/2017/magazines/biztimes-milwaukee/current-issue/local-universities-are-helping-student-entrepreneurs/

For those who have been following the controversies surrounding Uber (it seems like many from the various blog posts and comments!), here’s an article with the latest news: http://money.cnn.com/2017/03/19/technology/uber-jeff-jones-quits/index.html

Uber president has quit after six months of working for the company.

Interesting article that aims to link DNA and entrepreneurship. Not sure if I’m buying what the author is selling, but it’s an interesting analysis.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/285955

This was a really great article because it had Neil Stevenson from IDEO defining some of the core principles of design thinking.  But it also recognized that design thinking has become an amorphous concept, which means teaching the design thinking approach in schools can be difficult. However, I think encouraging the design thinking approach in young students is especially important because their future jobs will demand more creativity and problem solving skills.

“When executed with a clear understanding of its purpose as a method for fostering empathy, creativity, and innovation, design thinking can be a powerful tool for learning and change. If it is hastily and inexpertly implemented by educators with a weak or incomplete understanding of its principles, however, it is likely to be a waste of energy and precious classroom time.”

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/01/how-design-thinking-became-a-buzzword-at-school/512150/

Two congressmen, Democratic Representative Beto O’Rouke and Republican Representative Will Hurd, are in the midst of a cross-country road trip together after snowstorms in the northeast led to flight cancellations. They are livestreaming their trip to Facebook and Periscope, and taking and answering questions from calls and online comments.

While an article by The Atlantic deemed their efforts, in part, a “bid to generate feel-good headlines,” I think the their decision to livestream is notable for several reasons. First, perhaps most obviously, it’s an effort to reach across party lines and find common ground. Second, their use of technology is unprecedented; by “livestreaming” and taking and answering questions in real time, there is little room for canned, superficial responses, and more room for genuine response.

Finally, I think their endeavor also demonstrates an entrepreneurial spirit. Although livestreaming is a temporary platform, it’s a non-traditional way to market their ideas (as well as themselves for future campaigns). Indeed, as The Atlantic states: “Apart from the potential for sleep deprivation, the road trip is a relatively low-risk, and low-cost, way for O’Rourke and Hurd to attempt to cast themselves as politicians working to advance civil, and productive, reach-across-the-aisle dialogue.”

Their “cross country town hall meeting” is unprecedented, innovative, and fosters a broader social purpose—much like entrepreneurship.